Rectilinear combing frame for long fibres



Jan. 22, 1963 c. SCHLEIFER RECTILINEAR COMBING FRAME FOR LONG FIBRES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 30, 1960 Fig. 2

Jan. 22, 1963 c. SCHLEIFER RECTILINEAR COMBING FRAME FOR LONG FIBRES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 30, 1960 Patented Jan. 22, 1983 Italy Filed Aug. 30, 1960, Ser. No. 52,973 Claims priority, application Italy Sept. 4, 1959 6 Claims. (Cl. 19-215) My invention has for its object a rectilinear frame for combing long fibres, including a can adapted to collect the sliver, said can being arranged laterally with reference to the longitudinal medial plane of the frame. In the conventional rectilinear frames for .combing long fibres of the type including a single head, the sliver obtained through combing is collected in a rotary can located-near the middle of the front side of the machine. Such an arrangement of the receiver shows numerous drawbacks which have an unfavourable action on the yield of the frame, said drawbacks being summarized as follows:

The combing frame requires a substantial increase in the height of the machine in those cases where it is desired to resort to cans having a large capacity and the use of which would be of interest in the case of high yield modern frames, in so far as such a can would allow cutting out the stoppages of the frame, which stoppages are required by the change of can and an exaggerated increase in the height of the combing frame would make its servicing an inconvenient matter;

:An increase in the diameter of the can and, consequently, in its bulk and also the presence of a transmission en- .suring the rotation of the can and of its input port limit considerably the easy access to the operative parts inside the frame when it is desired to adjust or inspect such parts during the running of the frame;

The necessity of stopping the frame when it is desired to remove the waste or noil material; in fact, for such a removal, it is necessary to shift the can away so as to reach the container collecting the waste which has to be then removed and reintroduced after it has been emptied;

The speed of the frame is limited by the fact that it is necessary to use cans having a reduced capacity for housing the sliver.

In practice, with a high speed of operation, the frequency of the stoppages required for the change of the can is high in the case of small-sized cans having a reduced diameter or height. This limits considerably the yield of the machine and cuts out the advantages ascribable to the increase in the speed of operation of the present frames.

Now, my invention has for its object a rectilinear frame for combing long fibres which cuts out all the above drawbacks.

This is achieved, in accordance with my invention, by laying the can collecting the combed sliver in a lateral position with reference to the longitudinal medial plane of the frame, which provides an easy access to the operative parts of the machine, together with the possibility of using cans of the desired size, both as concerns their diameter and their height.

Further features and advantages of my invention will appear clearly from the reading of the following de scription of a preferred embodiment of said invention, reference being made to the accompanying drawings illustrating by way of example only said preferred embodiment. In said drawings:

FIG. 1 is a lateral diagrammatic elevational view of a combing frame according to my invention.

FIG. 2 is a further lateral diagrammatic elevational view of the frame, as seen from the opposite side.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic plan view of the machine.

In the drawings, 1 and 2 designate the two opposite side walls of a rectilinear frame for combing long fibres, said walls being interconnected by a cross-member 3. The numeral 4 designates the lower cylinder of the group of drawing cylinders, while 5 designates the drawing off creeper driving along with it the combed sheet of fibres. Reference character 6 designates the can collecting the sliver obtained through transformation of said combed sheet carried along by the drawing off creeper 5.

I have not illustrated in the drawings the other parts of the combing frame such as the clamping means, the rectilinear comb, the upper drawing cylinder, the circular comb and the other parts known per se and having no direct relationship with the object of the invention.

As shown more clearly in FIG. 3 of the accompanying drawings, the can 6 lies in front of the sidewall 1 of the machine and is started rotating through the engagement of the gear 7 secured to the lower end of the receiver, with a gear 8 keyed to a vertical shaft 9 carried by the sidewall l of the frame. Said shaft 9 is driven by the electric motor M which controls, through the belt it a pulley 11 keyed to the shaft 12 carrying a pulley 13 con trolling in its turn, through the agency of a cone belt 14, an expansible pulley 15. The belt 14 passes over a tensioning roller 16 carried by the arm of a bell crank pivotally secured at 17 and the other arm of which may be shifted through rotation of the small handwheel 18, with a view to adjusting the tensioning of the belt 14 and thereby the speed of the shaft 19 on which is fitted the expansible pulley 15'. The shaft 19 is rigid with a worm 2i) meshing with a worm wheel 21 keyed to the shaft 9. The latter extends upwardly up to the upper section of the frame and it transmits its movement, through the bevel gears 22, to the shaft 23 controlling directly, through the agency of the gear wheels 24, the small calenders 25 and 26 arranged above the opening 27 of the receiver.

The shaft 12 carries also a gear 28 meshing with the gears 29 keyed to the shaft 34 extending up to the sidewall 2. Near the latter the shaft 39 carries a crank, of which the crank pin 31 is pivotally secured to the end of a connecting rod .32, the other end of which is pivotally secured at 33 to a double toothed sector rocking around the shaft 34 (FIG. 2). The teeth 35 of the toothed sector mesh with a gear 36 mounted loose on the shaft 3'7 carrying the cylinder 4, said gear 36 being connected with said shaft through one-way clutch 38. The second series of teeth 39 on the toothed sector is arranged so as to be capable of engaging a gear 40 keyed to the shaft 37. Said arrangement, which allows reversing periodically the direction of rotation of the cylinder 4- and, consequently, the direction of progression of the drawing of]? creeper 5, is designed in a manner such that, for each cycle of operation, the movement in the output direction is larger than that of its return movement which is obtained during the meshing of the teeth 3% with the gear as.

The sheet carried along by the drawing off creeper 5 is collected in the shape of a sliver inside the funnel 41 and it passes then over the small calenders 42 and 45 beyond which the sliver enters the small calenders 25 and 26 and thence, it is urged into the can 6, through its input opening 27. The small calender 42 is keyed to the shaft 44 carrying the gear 45, which latter is con trolled through the agency of the gear 46 by the pinion 47 carried by the shaft 48 rigid with the transmission roller 49 engaging the drawing off creeper 5, whereby said shaft is driven by said drawing oif creeper. The calenders 42 and 43 are subjected thus periodically to a reversal of their direction of rotation and bestow thus to the sliver passing over them a reciprocation, the amplitude of which in the direction of output is larger than the amplitude of the return movement.

The advantages of the above-described arrangement are obvious and numerous. In the first place, the lateral position of the can allows resorting to large diameter cans of a somewhat considerable height, while it is possible to reach the operative parts of the machine, without being hindered in any manner.

The frame may also be given a lesser height, which leads to the advantage of an increased stability, in so far that the center of gravity of the movable system is lower with reference to the pedestal of the frame.

Between the output calenders collecting the sheet of fibres and transforming it into a sliver, which calenders rotate alternatingly in either direction, as is the case for the drawing oif creeper driving the sheet of fibres, on the one hand, and the small calenders introducing the sliver into the can and subjected to a continuous rotary movement, on the other hand, there is obtained a pulsatory movement, after the manner of lungs, for the strand of sliver suspended freely between the output of the calenders 42 and 43 and the input into the small calenders 25 and 26. Said strand shortens and expands periodically, so as to make up for the variations in the feed ascribable to the reciprocation bestowed to the sliver by the calenders 42 and 43 and opposing the continuous movement impressed on said sliver by the small calenders 25 and 26.

The speed of continuous progression of the calenders 25 and 26 is caused to constantly match the speed of rotation of the can, as provided by the fact that said calenders and the receiver are driven by a common continuous speed varying system including expansible pulleys.

Said system is more rational thanthe conventional system used in the prior combing frames, wherein the can is located centrally, in so far that the pulsatory lung effect is applied to a sliver, i.e. to an element having a greater strength than a mere sheet which is readily torn.

The lateral position of the can shows the further advantage consisting in that it allows removing the container collecting the waste, without it being necessary to stop the frame, since it is no longer necessary to shift the can when such a removal is to be executed. This advantage increases the total efficiency of the machine independently of the other advantages obtained, such as, inter alia, the fact that the speed of the machine is no longer limited by the possibility of increasing the capacity of the slivercollecting can, since the latter may be given any size suiting the operative speed of the actual frame.

Of course, it is possible, without unduly widening the scope of the invention as defined in the accompanying claims, to modify the details of execution disclosed and to resort to other systems than those which have been described and illustrated by way of a mere exemplification.

What I claim is:

1. In a combing frame for combing long fibers, a pair of side walls, a group of drawing cylinders arranged between said side walls, a lower cylinder in said group, an endless sliver drawing-off creeper passing over said lower cylinder, a transmission roller engaging said sliver drawing-otf creeper, a vertically arranged funnel behind said transmission roller for collecting sliver issuing from said sliver drawing-off creeper, a first pair of small calenders below said funnel for drawing off the sliver from the latter, a rotatable can offset laterally with respect to the middle longitudinal plane of the frame for collecting the sliver, a second pair of small calenders arranged above said can for introducing the sliver therein, a power unit for driving the frame, a gearing interposed between said power unit and said drawing cylinders for periodically rotating the latter in opposite directions, and a gearing interposed between said can and said power unit for driving the can and said second pair of small calendars.

2. A combing frame as set forth in claim 1, wherein said can is arranged at the front of one ofsaid side walls.

3. A combing frame as set forth in claim 1, comprising a gearing interposed between said transmission roller and said first pair of small calenders for driving the latter.

4. A combing frame as set forth in claim 1, wherein the calenders of said second pair are driven to rotate at a constant speed.

5. A combing frame as set forth in claim 1, wherein the gearing interposed between said power unit and said can comprises a variable speed mechanism.

6. A combing frame as set forth in claim 5, wherein the small calenders of said second pair are drivingly connected to the output from said variable speed mechanism.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. IN A COMBING FRAME FOR COMBING LONG FIBERS, A PAIR OF SIDE WALLS, A GROUP OF DRAWING CYLINDERS ARRANGED BETWEEN SAID SIDE WALLS, A LOWER CYLINDER IN SAID GROUP, AN ENDLESS SLIVER DRAWING-OFF CREEPER PASSING OVER SAID LOWER CYLINDER, A TRANSMISSION ROLLER ENGAGING SAID SLIVER DRAW ING-OFF CREEPER, A VERTICALLY ARRANGED FUNNEL BEHIND SAID TRANSMISSION ROLLER FOR COLLECTING SLIVER ISSUING FROM SAID SLIVER DRAWING-OFF CREEPER, A FIRST PAIR OF SMALL CALENDERS BELOW SAID FUNNEL FOR DRAWING OFF THE SLIVER FROM THE LATTER, A ROTATABLE CAN OFFSET LATERALLY WITH RESPECT TO THE MIDDLE LONGITUDINAL PLANE OF THE FRAME FOR COLLECTING THE SLIVER, A SECOND PAIR OF SMALL CALENDERS ARRANGED ABOVE SAID CAN FOR INTRODUCING THE SLIVER THEREIN, A POWER UNIT FOR DRIVING THE FRAME, A GEARING INTERPOSED BETWEEN SAID POWER UNIT AND SAID DRAWING CYLINDERS FOR PERIODICALLY ROTATING THE LATTER IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS, AND A GEARING INTERPOSED BETWEEN SAID CAN AND SAID POWER UNIT FOR DRIVING THE CAN AND SAID SECOND PAIR OF SMALL CALENDERS. 